AS Monaco closes deal to sign Fabregas

AS Monaco has secured Cesc Fabregas onn a no-fee transfer from Chelsea, after the London club initially tried to secure a multi-million-pound transfer fee.

Monaco will pay bonuses to Chelsea based on Fabregas’ performances. He has signed a three-and-a-half year deal.

The 31-year-old Spaniard played for Chelsea for four years, joining from Barcelona. Prior to that, he played for Arsenal, where he was a team mate of Thierry Henry.

“We are very pleased to welcome Cesc Fabregas to AS Monaco, a world-class player and a great professional, whose arrival demonstrates the ambition of the club,” said club vice-president Vadim Vasilyev.

“We are convinced that his experience at the highest level will bring a lot to our players on and off the field.”

Fabregas said, “I’m here to help the team. I’m looking forward to starting. I am very excited.”

[caption id="attachment_1842" align="alignnone" width="600"] Photo: Facebook AS Monaco[/caption]
AS Monaco won 3-1 against visiting Turkish side Fenerbahçe on Wednesday night at Stade Louis II, a complete turnaround from last week’s 2-1 loss in Istanbul and a 4-3 victory on aggregate in the UEFA Champions League.
ASM’s Radamel Falcao scored again this week, with a penalty shot in the 18th minute, 15 minutes after Valère Germain’s opening goal in the third, and it could have been more for the Colombian striker if it were not for a thigh injury in the 43rd minute that kept him out of the rest of the game.
When Emmanuel Emenike scored for the visitors in the 54th it looked as if the scoreline would be the same as last week, but Germain came back with his second successful shot in the 66th. In the next round, ASM could face Manchester City, Porto, Villarreal or Ajax Amsterdam.

[caption id="attachment_22537" align="alignnone" width="640"] Photo: AS Monaco Facebook[/caption]
Although Monaco enjoyed 57-percent possession in the fast-moving UEFA Champions League game on Tuesday night, it was Porto’s Aboubakar who was the star of the match, opening the scoring for the visitors in the 31st minute and coming back for a second in the 69th. He was replaced by Jesus Corona in the 71st.
Insult was added to injury when Layun scored for Porto in the 90th minute, taking the score to 3-0 for the visitors.
Playing at home, Monaco had gone into the UEFA Champions League group stage game as clear favourites, facing a Porto team that had lost 3-1 at home to Besiktas in its previous Champions League outing on September 13, but Monaco’s players were unable to find a rhythm and were simply outclassed by the visitors.
Monaco had suffered a heavy defeat to Nice in a French league game, losing 4-1 just a few weeks ago, but have so far averaged three goals per game in Ligue 1, and coach Jardim had hoped the bad times were over.
Monaco’s captain, Radamel Falcao, is the top goalscorer in any major European league with 11 goals from seven games. Interestingly, Falcao played for Porto in the Europa League final in 2011, scoring the only goal in the final.
Falcao’s failure to find the back of the visitors’ net on Tuesday must give Monaco serious pause for thought.